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Transmitter Measurements on Multistandard Base Stations
February 12, 2013 2:11 pm | by Martin Schmähling, Spectrum Analysis Product Manager, Rohde & Schwarz | Articles | CommentsFollowing its introduction 20 years ago, GSM has established itself as the de facto global standard for mobile telephony. Since this time, wireless communications has continued to develop. Whereas GSM was initially only designed for voice, the GPRS and EDGE extensions have also made it usable for data services.
Components, Characteristics and Device Implementation
February 12, 2013 10:24 am | by Luis Puebla, Applications Engineer, Freescale | Articles | CommentsAccording to the National Sleep Foundation, more than 18 million American adults have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). OSA occurs when the back muscles of the throat relax while sleeping, causing the airway to narrow, resulting in snoring. These muscles could also completely block the flow of air to the lungs.
Proper Data Security
February 12, 2013 9:37 am | by Dean Wiech, Managing Director at Tools4ever | Articles | CommentsThere are really three sides to proper data security. The first step is ensuring that new employee accounts are created with the proper access rights when an employee joins the organization. The second is making sure those access rights remain accurate during the employee’s tenure, and the third is revoking all access rights when the employee leaves.
Engineering Update #2: Revolutionary Self-Healing Wires
February 1, 2013 5:27 pm | by Eric Sorensen, Coordinator of Multimedia Development | Videos | CommentsOur second newscast for Electronic Component News is brought to you by Mouser Electronics, the electronic components distributor with the widest selection of the newest products. In this episode of Engineering Update, we're discussing new research into larger, safer lithium ion batteries.
Sensing the Wireless Future
October 10, 2012 6:52 am | by Janine E. Mooney, Editor | Articles | CommentsWireless sensors are applicable for a variety of applications, whether it be smart cities (smart parking, smart lighting, waste management), industrial control (M2M applications, indoor air quality, temperature monitoring), eHealth (fall detection, patient surveillance, ultraviolet radiation) and many more.
Converting Ambient Energy to Power the Factory
October 8, 2012 7:45 am | Articles | CommentsEnergy harvesting wireless technology monitors and controls large-scale industrial plant facilities By Jim O’Callaghan, President of EnOcean Inc. Essential factors for the success of a business include production up-time and process machinery efficiency. Real-time monitoring of machinery makes it possible to detect and prevent equipment failure proactively.
Testing Interference in a Wireless Environment
October 8, 2012 7:07 am | by Rolland Zhang, Agilent Technologies | Articles | CommentsIn wireless systems, interference in the wireless channel can be quite problematic, degrading the reception of desired signals. It can originate from a variety of intentional, unintentional and incidental radiators and occurs in both licensed and unlicensed spectrum. With the growing scarcity of radio frequency spectrum and ongoing efforts to improve its utilization for the highest capacity and performance (e.
Making the Connection
July 24, 2012 9:12 am | Blogs | CommentsBy Janine E. Mooney, Editor Design changes present new opportunities, and requirements, that allow the RF industry to assume a much greater application reach. Malcolm Gladwell, a British-born Canadian journalist, bestselling author and speaker, once said, “Connectors are people in a community who know large numbers of people and who are in the habit of making introductions.
Choosing an EMI Gasket for Your Design
July 24, 2012 8:59 am | Blogs | CommentsBy Janine E. Mooney, Editor EMI gaskets are a must in order to properly block all interference from reaching your device. A key concern when shielding your design is choosing a gasket. Gaskets are used to seal seams and other gaps that can cause problems in shielding, thus implementing the best fit is imperative.
Eliminating Interference with Shielded Enclosures
July 24, 2012 8:37 am | Blogs | CommentsBy Janine E. Mooney, Editor EMI has the ability to interrupt or even destroy the functionality of unprotected electronics. What’s more important than protecting your valuable electronics from potential threats? Not much. Especially with regards to military electronics, which are growing more and more prevalent every day.
Palmer Wahl Introduces the C150 On-site Multifunction Calibrator
July 20, 2011 8:39 am | Articles | CommentsThe ergonomically designed Wahl C150 On-site Multifunction Calibrator features unique built in “easy connect” terminals, portable and bench top flexibility, and easy to use intuitive embedded software. Fully protected with an external anti-shock rubber boot with IP 54 rating, it features five user-selectable languages,0.005% accuracy over 1 year, NIST traceability, and HART transmitter compatibility.
Customizing COTS Testing Systems
July 12, 2011 8:07 am | Articles | CommentsTurning Off-the-Shelf Components into an Application-Specific, Total Data Acquisition Solution By definition, the off-the-shelf modular instruments (VME, PXI, VXI, CompactPCI, PCI, etc.) used to create automated test and measurement systems are designed to be general purpose, programmable, and flexible enough to handle a variety of input ranges and types, speeds, and functions.
Amplifier Test Software Simplifies Test and Certification of RF Amplifiers
July 6, 2011 11:25 am | Articles | CommentsBoonton has launched “Amplifier Test Bench”, a new software package that simplifies test and certification of RF Amplifiers. Amplifier Test Bench supports analysis of pulsed and linear amplifiers; furthermore it measures gain over frequency and gain over input power. The software supports both fast Boonton peak power meters 4540 and 4500B and a variety of standard generators.
CCI Solves Crucial Cell Site Interference Issues with Latest Analyzer Solutions
July 5, 2011 8:53 am | Articles | CommentsLeading provider of wireless base station enhancement products, Communications Components Inc. (CCI), has now launched its PiMPro family of analyzers in EMEA, which enable mobile network operators (MNOs) to remove the adverse affects of Passive Intermodulation (PIM) – a form of interference - from their networks, and prevent it from damaging quality of service (QoS) and customer experience.
New Measurement Solution For Optical Transmitter Compliance Testing Offers the Highest Bandwidth Optical Waveform Analysis and Increased Accuracy
June 29, 2011 11:12 am | Articles | CommentsAgilent Technologies introduced a new measurement solution for optical transmitter compliance testing on the Agilent 86100D digital communications analyzer. The solution offers the industry’s highest bandwidth optical waveform analysis and increased accuracy. The DCA provides a new approach, known as system impulse response correction, or SIRC, which enables multimode optical receivers with bandwidths in excess of 25 GHz and single-mode receivers with near 100-GHz bandwidths.
Increasing Complexity of Devices Under Test (DUTs) - Boom or Doom for the Test Engineer
June 27, 2011 7:05 am | Articles | CommentsFrost & Sullivan's Industry Director Jessy Cavazos and Industry Analyst Prathima Bommakanti, along with guest speaker Matthew Friedman, Senior Product Manager for Automated Test at National Instruments, have completed extensive analysis on the electronic test equipment market. The experts will lead a short teleconference about new findings that affect the market, followed by a live question-and-answer session.
Field-to-Lab Testing Equals Better Real-World Performance for Mobile Devices
May 13, 2011 11:15 am | Articles | CommentsThis case study will describe an application of the Azimuth Systems Field-to-Lab (FTL) Solution by a market-leading handset manufacturer. Real-world drive testing is very expensive; lab testing is much less expensive and faster -- provided that the real world can be emulated with sufficient fidelity.
RF/IF Amplifiers and VGAs Cover The Entire Signal Chain
May 12, 2011 6:23 am | Articles | CommentsBy Ashraf Elghamrawi, Analog Devices ( www.analog.com ) The amplifier is one of the most versatile building blocks used in RF/IF signal chains today. They are commonly used throughout designs to overcome signal losses incurred from passive mixers, filters, baluns, and other passive elements. Since these losses occur across the entire signal chain five main families of amplifiers have been developed by Analog Devices.
Use Oscilloscopes to Monitor Multiple Protocols
April 11, 2011 12:32 pm | Articles | CommentsBy Roland Gamper, LeCroy Corporation Regardless of the system topology and application domain, the development, maintenance and monitoring of electronic system architectures using mixed protocols requires tools able to straddle several busses, at various speeds and with different line characteristics.
Limitless Wireless: Hybrid Lithium Batteries Can Power Remote Wireless Sensors for over 25 Years
April 11, 2011 11:41 am | Articles | CommentsBy Sol Jacobs, Tadiran Batteries Rapidly evolving technology and wireless communications have unlocked the dynamic growth potential of remote wireless sensors, resulting in growing demand for hybrid lithium batteries that combine exceptional long life with the ability to handle high current pulses.
Power Saving Techniques in GSM-GPRS-EDGE Handsets
March 10, 2011 10:01 am | Articles | CommentsBy Dr. Oleksandr Gorbachov, CTO, RFaxis, Inc. With over 600 million new mobile phone handsets shipped each year, mobile phones have become an integral part of our daily lives. As more and more new features are being demanded in smaller and thinner handset form factors, excessive current consumption and poor battery life become real issues for the mobile phone user.
RF Envelope Detection Enables Drain Modulation Systems
February 14, 2011 10:14 am | Articles | CommentsBy Eamon Nash and Ashraf Elghamrawi, RF Group, Analog Devices, Inc. Improving the Power Added Efficiency (PAE) of High Powered Amplifiers continues to be a challenging goal in a Wireless equipment industry that is struggling to deliver cheaper, smaller equipment that consumes either less electricity or in the case of portable devices, less battery current.
Full Signal Path Solution for Portable Ultrasound Systems
January 10, 2011 12:02 pm | Articles | CommentsBy Suresh Ram, National Semiconductor Corporation There is a rising demand for accessible medical care. The world population is rapidly growing and aging, increasing the cost of healthcare. Medical practitioners need small energy efficient and cost effective diagnostic devices. Portable diagnostic equipment that improve quality of healthcare in a cost effective manner are highly desirable.
Meeting the Challenge of Multi-standard Wireless Communications Testing
December 16, 2010 9:05 am | Articles | CommentsBy Tim Carey, Aeroflex Test Solutions Non-cellular technologies are increasingly being integrated into cellular terminals, and this has generated the need for test systems that comprise a number of different test platforms, which can make system integration both complex and costly. At the same time, there is pressure to increase test speed and, in combination with the proliferation of functional tests associated with the introduction of new standards, this further increases the costs.
Generating Multiple Digitally Modulated Carriers Using an AWG
December 15, 2010 11:11 am | Articles | CommentsBy Thomas Dippon, Agilent Technologies When testing wideband RF components and systems, it is necessary to stimulate the device under test (DUT) with a wideband signal that is as close to the “real” signal as possible. For some measurements, wideband noise or a multi-tone signal might be appropriate.

